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Counterfact
Fake News and Misinformation in the Digital Information Age
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2024
Summary
For as long as there has been a press, fake news has played a role in the disruption of how factual information is shared among people. Misinformation goes back even further, spreading through the use of lies and rumors, spoken or written, for various political and social purposes. In this book, we will trace a brief history of fake news, examine its antecedents and precursors, before looking at the way it is currently employed using digital information technologies.
The current consensus on what comprises fake news is somewhat contested; as such, a more detailed look at the phenomenon is in order. Not only does fake news include false news stories spread with the intent to deceive, its purpose can be instructive and parodic, providing the very tools needed to puncture misinformation bubbles. This book will examine in detail a comprehensive model for fake news that might be used to help predict and neutralize its negative effects, as well as examine the traits that contribute to a person’s susceptibility to falling for false stories, conspiracies, and other misinformation.
In this regard, the book is unique in its approach to fake news, seeing it as situated within a matrix of behaviors, conditions, and contexts that must be accounted for before its effects can be completely neutralized. The context also explores the relationship of the creator and the user of fake news, speculating on the intertwined actions and motives of both. It is hypothesized that specific conditions exploited by ‘bad actors’ would contribute to the spread of fake news and that low levels or lack of certain identifiable characteristics in users (i.e. ability to scaffold, conduct parallel thinking, be aware of one’s ignorance, know one’s strengths and weaknesses) would also make it more likely to be consumed and shared.
This book also examines the wider impacts of fake news on societies, especially in the areas of education, politics, and public policy. This book makes the case for developing strategies that rely not merely upon information literacy to help individuals deal with fake news, but also on wider national and international policies that specifically aid users of information and address human behavioral characteristics. As in information behavior research, the scale and scope of examining fake news requires both a local focus and a large-scale inquiry into societal and cultural norms
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Bibliographic data
Copyright year
2024
ISBN-Print
978-1-5381-7737-2
ISBN-Online
978-1-5381-7739-6
Publisher
Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language
English
Pages
274
Product type
Book Titles
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Contents No access
List of Figures No access
Acknowledgments No access
Preface No access
Truth, Lies, and Information Pathologies No access
Can Information’s Use Be “Pathological”? No access
Ceding Truth to Power No access
The Early Origins of Fake News No access
Fake News in the Twentieth Century No access
Social Media, Online Discourse, and the New “Daily Me” No access
Overview of a New Fake News Model No access
The “Actor” in the Fake News Model No access
Consumers of Fake News No access
The Impact of Fake News on Universities, Libraries, and General Education No access
The Impact of Fake News on Online Communication, Media, and Political Discourse No access
Neutralizing the Pathologies of Fake News Impacting Information Behavior in Individuals No access
Neutralizing the Pathologies of Fake News in Macro Environments No access
